Review: A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.

I loved An Ember in the Ashes so much. It was one of my favorite books of 2015 and I’ve even reread it. I had such high hopes for A Torch Against the Night and I was not disappointed. This book is even better than I was expecting. I feel like A Torch Against the Night is more action packed, we get to know the characters more, and explores the amazing world that Sabba created a lot more than the first book.
Even if you weren’t super into the first book, I definitely recommend giving A Torch Against the Night a chance. I personally loved it even more than the first book and I can’t wait for the third book.